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Rodrigues completes Dakar adventure in 3rd posi...

Yamaha filled a place on the podium of the world’s toughest and most prestigious rally for the second year in succession as Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues claimed third position overall on his WR450F Rally. The 32 year old pushed through almost 9000km from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Lima in Peru via Chile in fourteen days and thirteen stages of the 33rd edition of the Dakar.

Rodrigues gathered two stage victories as the test of endurance, strength, belief and navigational skill took the competitors through the diverse topography of the three countries. From desert dunes to the Andes mountain range, 97 motorcycle riders were able to reach Plaza de Armas and the chequered flag in Peru.

“Making it to the end of a Dakar is always terrific,” the Yamaha rider said to the official website www.dakar.com. “So finishing on the podium is simply incredible. There are two great riders, Marc and Cyril, and they're tough nuts to crack. I lost 20 minutes in stage 4 and 20 more two days later. I was 40 minutes back, so I knew catching up with them would be hard. Winning the Dakar requires perfect preparation all year round and making sure everything goes well during the race. I'll try and find the solution to be as good as they are.”

Helder started the rally with a conservative speed but after 15th and 12th places on the first two timed ‘specials’ embarked on a run that saw him drop out of the top four only four times over the next ten days. He won stages eight and thirteen to consolidate his second podium result in a row and take his record to 4th, 3rd and 3rd from the last three attempts. The record – together with 2011 FIM Cross Countries Rally World Championship - establishes the Portuguese as one of the best rally specialists in the world.

Elsewhere in the two wheeled division Olivier Pain snared his best stage result of the rally at the final time-of-asking – with 6th – that cemented his final ranking of 9th and means that Yamaha technology filled two spots at the higher echelon of the leaderboard. The Frenchman posted ten finishes in the top fifteen. David Casteu was hunting a slot in the first five for almost half of the rally but ran into some technical trouble and could never regain the ground he has worked hard to grasp. Pain’s team-mate eventually rolled into Lima with the final position of 41st.

Also of note from the 2012 contest was Yamaha Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel. The veteran put himself into the record books once more. The Frenchman won the car class of the rally for his tenth success. The win was his first in five years. “My finest victory will always be my first win in the motorcycle category, but this one has something special to it,” the 46 year old said.

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Yamaha Factory Riders Take Class in Indonesia

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies kicked off their one day visit to Jakarta this morning with a special visit to meet potential racing stars of the future. They shared some of their valuable knowledge with up and coming racers in the Indonesian Yamaha R Series Cup as part of a unique Yamaha Coaching Clinic. The MotoGP stars gave tips on rider positioning, cornering and overtaking to the delighted local riders.

Following the morning coaching session Lorenzo went on to help Yamaha Motor Indonesia launch the new Yamaha Byson motorcycle to an audience of over 3000 Indonesian Yamaha Dealers at a special event just outside Jakarta. The 150cc Byson street bike is Yamaha’s star new machine for 2012 in Indonesia. Spies was due to co-host alongside his team mate however a bout of food poisoning unfortunately meant he was unable to participate.

“It’s been a pleasure to meet the new Indonesian racers of the future,” said Lorenzo. “I think with good teachers they can be professional riders in world championships. It was important as well for us to see all the dealers here in Indonesia this afternoon who sell all the Yamaha bikes; I hope we helped to motivate them to achieve success in 2012.”

“It’s been extremely cool to come here and meet the Indonesian people” commented Spies. “They’ve been so warm and welcoming to me. I’m really sorry to have not been able to meet all the dealers this afternoon, just my luck to get struck down with a bug today. I’m off to Bali now to recover and take a few days rest but I’m already looking forward to another opportunity to come back here again and see everyone.”

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Stewart gets 2012 campaign underway with 6th at...

The 2012 AMA Supercross series was launched in front of a capacity 45,000 crowd at the Anaheim stadium in Los Angeles last weekend and Joe Gibbs Racing’ James Stewart took his YZ450F to sixth position in the opening main event of seventeen on the U.S. calendar.

The former Champion endured a dramatic first evening of the season. He had marked the fastest lap-time in the second qualifier but was undone at the beginning of the 20 lap sprint when a poor start left him deep in the pack. Behind runaway leader and winner Ryan Villopoto Stewart worked up to third position and then enjoyed a tight battle with 2010 champion Ryan Dungey.

The Floridian made a small mistake on the approach to a table-top jump and hit the hay bales at the side of the track, causing a crash and some light damage to his motorcycle. He was hit in the stomach by his handlebar but had no other problems. By the time he could rectify his radiator plastic shroud and regain his composure he had lost several places and needed to push again to reach sixth.

“James showed a lot of patience out there tonight,” said JGR/Toyota Yamaha team manager Jeremy Albrecht. “He didn’t get the best of starts, but he did a really good job of being patient and catching the leaders without taking too many risks. But the track was changing a lot throughout the night and he just got caught out over there and landed in the Tuff Blox. He was missing a radiator shroud when he got up, and the front end was kind of tweaked, but he still made the most of it. Championships are won on your bad days, and this wasn’t a good day, but he still salvaged sixth place. That’s pretty good.”

Ryan Morais and Davi Millsaps filled 15th and 16th places under the Anaheim lights. Ryan Sipes (5th spot) and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne – completing several West Coast events as warm-up for the FIM MX2 World Championship – (9th) posted finishes on the YZ250F in the Lites division.

Round two takes place next weekend at Chase Field in Phoenix.

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YZF-R1 takes double victory at eight hours of Doha

An exciting season finale in Doha, Qatar saw the Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone team with riders David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive power their YZF-R1 to the finish line and snatch their first victory of the year and as a consequence earn the third place overall in the 2011 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship.

The GMT 94 R1 was quick off the mark for the eight hours of Doha on Saturday, battling for the lead from the very beginning with fellow Yamaha riders Igor German, Steve Martin and Katsuyuki Nakasuga from Monster Yamaha YART. In a dramatic ninth lap Monster Yamaha YART’s Nakasuga went down in a tussle with Sébastien Gimbert, sending the Austrian team to the back of the pack with a one lap deficit. Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone managed to avoid the collision and took advantage to push their Yamaha into the lead. Thanks to some slick pit work and consistent runs from Checa, Foray and Lagrive, the team managed to maintain this lead. Holding off constant advances from the Suzuki Endurance racing team, the French Yamaha squad gradually created a comfortable gap and completed a total of 231 laps to take a well-earned first step on the season finale podium.

Despite the collision at the early stages, Monster Yamaha YART riders put in an outstanding performance to push back through the field to complete the final race of the season just shy of a podium position, in fourth place. Closely following was the Spanish Yamaha of YMES Folch Endurance with Dani Ribalta, Pedro Vallcaneras and Jose Manuel Luis Rita, crossing the line in sixth place.

Belgian’s Yamaha DG Sport Herock Team took a beautiful victory in the Superstock category, giving the YZF-R1 ‘the double’ in Doha. Riders Raymond Schouten, Hugo Marchand and Josep Monge all completed trouble free stints and were able to run a perfect race following the lined out strategy.

Four out of the entered seven Yamaha YZF-R1 machines completed the 2011 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship in the top ten with Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone, Monster Yamaha YART, YMES Folch Endurance and Maco Racing Team wrapping up the season in third, fifth, sixth and ninth places respectively.

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Sensational Second for Spies in Valencia for 80...

Yamaha Factory rider Ben Spies delivered a sensational performance today to take second in the Valencia Grand Prix. The Texan was quick to tuck in behind the fighting duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, pacing the two as they fought for position. With seven laps to go he made his move and began to close down race leader Casey Stoner. Capitalising on a small mistake by the race leader, Spies moved to the front and managed to create a small gap. Unfortunately the last corner saw Stoner fight back, charging to cross the finish line just 0.015 seconds ahead.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga put in a brilliant performance today in his first ever premier class MotoGP race. The Japanese rider has faced challenging weather conditions all weekend on his first visit to the Valencia circuit. Faced with a grid of experienced GP riders and hugely changeable track conditions, Nakasuga-san delivered, holding his own and fighting through to take a very respectable sixth place finish.

Todays Grand Prix at Valencia was not only the last of the season, but also the last of the 800cc era. Although unable to ride for the last two Grand Prix, Jorge Lorenzo has amassed enough points to seal second in the Championship standings with 260. Team mate Ben Spies takes fifth place with 176 points.

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